Reid: Vick was only there for emergency

Nick Fierro, OF THE MORNING CALL

PHILADELPHIA — Andy Reid tried his best on Monday to clear the mystery of Michael Vick's planned late arrival to Sunday's game against his former teammates and absence from the sideline the whole time, despite being listed as the No. 3 quarterback.

Vick was nowhere to be found throughout the Eagles' 31-17 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. This was after arriving at the stadium less than hour before kickoff.

Since suffering cracked rib cartilage during a loss to Washington on Oct. 3, Vick has not been able to play. Having him listed as the third quarterback against Atlanta was simply an emergency precaution, according to the coach.

"He was there to get treatment, really," Reid said. "And then [he would have played] if an absolute emergency came about, an absolute emergency. This is like a 1 percent chance that he would have to take a snap.

"… His opportunity to play would have been this: if somehow we were to run the ball in short yardage on the goal line and two quarterbacks were injured, that's when Michael would have played. That would have been it. Other than that, I wanted him to get in and get treatment. I told him exactly what time to be here, and Michael came at exactly that time. It was that simple."

Reid claimed he's done the same thing before with less noteworthy players.

The coach also said it would be a stretch for Vick to make it back by next Sunday's game at Tennessee and it would be "a real stretch" for wide receiver DeSean Jackson to be ready. Jackson suffered a concussion in the Atlanta game when he was leveled by a helmet-to-helmet hit by Dunta Robinson.

However, Reid was not terribly worried about the reports of memory loss and reported Jackson was in the weight room this morning in good spirits.

"When you get hit like that, you're not going to remember everything," Reid said. "But that wasn't like amnesia setting in. He remembered his touchdowns. … He didn't necessarily remember the hit. That was a heck of a hit. It was a rough one on both those guys."

In the wake of that hit and a few others that stood out on Sunday, the NFL is looking into stronger enforcement policies on helmet-to-helmet hits, which are not allowed under any circumstances.

"There's strong testimonial for looking readily at evaluating discipline, especially in the areas of egregious and elevated dangerous hits," vice president of football operations Ray Anderson told The Associated Press. "Going forward, there are certain hits that occurred that will be more susceptible to suspension. There are some that could bring suspensions for what are flagrant and egregious situations."

The league could make changes in its approach immediately, according to Anderson. But commissioner Roger Goodell would have the final say.

Reid was unsure on Monday if the Eagles, who have five wide receivers on the 53-man roster, would make a move to add at that position in the wake of Jackson's injury and a concussion that's kept rookie Riley Cooper sidelined the last two weeks.

"I've just got to see how Riley does here," said Reid.

Keep in mind the league trade deadline is today and that the Eagles brought back Kelley Washington, who did not survive their final roster cuts last month, for another workout last week but chose not to sign him at the time. Washington is an experienced receiver and proven special teams performer.

Not that the Eagles need him anymore after seemingly correcting a series of game-changing mistakes in kickoff and punt coverage.

The Falcons averaged just 23.3 yards per kickoff return and were held to 18 yards on the one returnable punt by Sav Rocca.

"I thought the coverage units were excellent," Reid said. "And that's something that we've struggled on and we've had some inconsistencies there. I thought we had a good plan. I talked to you last week about the discipline and maintaining your lane integrity and leverage, and I thought the guys did that and played a good game."

So pleased was Reid with the entire effort that he even found some positives on kicker David Akers, who missed three field goals for the first time in his career on Sunday.

"I thought David's kickoffs were phenomenal, one of his better days with kickoffs," he said. "I know he missed a couple of field goals there, but he came back strong and that field goal at the end was very, very important, and he drilled that thing. And you won't see David have too many days like he had in the field goal department. That's just not his m.o. there."